A Music-related blog containing information and commentary of my favorite music, as well as some choice downloads of quality, hard-to-find music (unofficial releases, ROIO's, concert bootlegs, etc.) available on the web.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Flying Burrito Brothers
December 1970
Bussum, The NetherlandsTV Studio Broadcast, very good quality
mp3 @ 320 kbps
Artwork Included

OK, since I don't have a recording of the Flying Burrito Brothers early show from the 1970-09-19 Whisky set to wrap up this string of shows, here is another short FBB set from around the same time, a couple months later, from a dutch TV broadcast, in good quality, featuring the same FBB lineup, and a completely different setlist (only Colorado duplicated) from the Whisky show previously posted. Once again, this one comes courtesy of Rocking-Byrd (Much Thanks!). Enjoy.

Here is a companion to the previously offered combined performance by the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, that constituted the late show on this final night of a memorable run at the Whisky in 1970. This is The Byrds set from the early show, and shows them in very fine form doing a relatively short set (due to the double bill with FBB), but packed with classic tracks and great performances. As noted previously, this was just at the time of the release of Untitled, their popular combined studio/live double album. When taken in conjunction with the highly adventurous late show, also available on this blog and which was essentially a loose jam session with their friends in The Flying Burrito Brothers, this concert helps to complete the picture of this memorable night (although I have not heard of any tape from the FBB early show being available). Once again (as with the last one), this show comes courtesy of Rocking-Byrd and his blog, so much thanks to him for making these available.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Recently, I was excited to find what appeared to be another early live recording from America (at the Guitars101 forum). It was labelled as from a 1973 BBC radio show. However, in obtaining and listening to it, it was clear that it was just a highly edited version of the 02-1972 Philadelphia (Sigma Sound Studios - WMMR Broadcast) show that has already been posted and is available here (and which included the full show - 4 more songs than this BBC show, and all of the between song talk and banter). Although this may indeed have been broadcast by the BBC in 1973, it most certainly was taken from the same source show as the 1972 Philadelphia show and broadcast. And although the recording is very good, it is not quite as great as the sound quality of that superb Philadelphia FM recording (previously offered). It is, however, definitely from a different recording, as this one does not have the brief cut (from tape flip) in 'Coming Into Los Angeles' that was present in the previous recording, so that is the one 'new' aspect of this recording, as it contains that one section missing from the previous recording of this show. Accordingly, I have spliced together that brief missing segment into the track from the Philly show, to recreate the full-length song, without the cut (the splice is relatively seamless, barely noticeable). That 'corrected track' has now been put into the download for the 1972 Philly show, so it is now already included in any further downloads of that show. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that this supposed 1973 show is not anything 'new' (and thus I will not be posting it), just an edited version of a previously available show, and that a superior full version of the show is already available. And now with this spliced version correcting the one track that was cut in the previous version, we now truly have the full concert. There are so few available recordings from this great period, so, although this one turned out not to be anything 'new', it still was great to see something else turn up (and now we have the 'complete' Philly show in great quality).

For those that don't already have the 1972 Philly show, here is the link page for that show, which is now available in Lossless, as well as mp3:

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Earlier today, Federal prosecutors completely shut down all aspects of Megaupload.com, one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, seized their servers, and arrested the founders and company executives as part of a massive indictment, charging the company with violating piracy laws. Here is a link to one of many news stories about the seizure. As you likely know, all of the music files posted on this blog were hosted by Megaupload. Thus, as of now, all of the music that was posted here is no longer available. Right now, there is no response from the megaupload website, there is no re-direct, it has just ceased to exist. Whether or not this is permanent, I do not know. We'll just have to see what happens. At some point in the future, I may decide to re-upload my stuff to a different file-sharing site, or not. But, I am not going to do anything about it right now. So, for the time being, music files are no longer available from this site. Please do not ask me to upload them somewhere else right now. I need to see just what is going to be the fall-out from all this, and what it might mean to blogs such as this. Thanks.

Here is a rare gem of a recording that superbly documents a unique live event, the merging of the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers into a one big jam session at the Whisky A Go Go in fall 1970, and with very good sound quality, too. This is another recording I recently obtained from Rocking-Byrd (Much Thanks!), and apparently it has only recently surfaced. It is such a delight I just had to share it here, too. This is a great pairing, and features what is arguably the best lineups from each band regarding their live shows (with Byrds featuring McGuinn and Clarence White and FBB featuring Hillman, Bernie Leadon, and newcomer Rick Roberts). I've already talked somewhat about the entwined histories of these bands, and the various lineups over the years, so I'll just put in here an excerpt from the review that came along with this recording that more fully explains this event (Full extended review included with download).
"...In 1970, Just three days after the release of Untitled, The Byrds new double album (featuring both live and studio recordings), both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers were booked for a series of six shows over three nights at the Whisky A Go-Go in their home town of Los Angeles. This run would also be Rick Roberts' debut with The Burritos, who were still yet to recognize the extent of his talent. The Whisky only held several hundred people and The Byrds hadn't performed there since October of 1968, so tickets were a hot commodity. Surrounded by family and friends (in addition to having a common fanbase), this run guaranteed a three-night party, playing to packed houses for every show.
Logistically, these shows were challenging as The Byrds' P.A. system was designed for much larger venues and because, between the two groups, there was a lot of equipment. Strict time constraints required the downtime to be minimal, so all equipment from both bands (including two drum kits) needed to be squeezed onto the tiny Whisky A Go-Go stage. To accommodate the Byrds' P.A., cabinets were wired to multiple locations around the room. Each 90-minute show was structured with the FBBs performing a 45-minute opening set, immediately followed by a 45-minute set by The Byrds. This basic format continued throughout the run until the final night, when the two groups hatched a plan for the late show. For this final show of the run, the FBBs would begin their set as usual, but after several songs, they invited The Byrds out for an informal jam session. The rest of the night would feature both bands performing together for the very first time." [Ed. Note: Actually, not the first time, as both bands, with somewhat different lineups, also performed together a year and a half earlier, on 2/23/69, their final night together in a series of Boston Tea Party shows. Unfortunately, a recording from this previous event, although rumored to exist, has never become available.]
"Until now, this event has been relegated to the stuff of legend, but presented here are the complete recordings of that very set, recorded by Byrds' sound engineer Dinky Dawson. Despite the challenging circumstances of such a tiny room, Dawson's soundboard cassette masters manage to capture a great deal, with all of the instruments and vocals audible. The balance is not perfect, but in this instance, the good far outweighs the bad. Surprisingly, the recording is also in stereo, with McGuinn and Hillman's vocals panned to opposite channels, allowing listeners to clearly enjoy each individually, as they sing together for the first time in years. The setlist is a Byrds-lover's dream, containing material from both Sweethearts Of The Rodeo and The Notorious Byrd Brothers albums, in addition to classic early material. Despite the unrehearsed and somewhat intoxicated nature of these performances, it is obvious these musicians are having an awful lot of fun together. Seemingly eager to dig in to every song, downtime is kept to a minimum, as The FBBs and The Byrds collaborate on stage for the first [make that second] time ever." (Alan Bershaw - text obtained from Rocking-Byrd's site).

Monday, January 9, 2012

Well, here we are at the start of a new year. As John Lennon so succinctly said 'Another year over and a new one just begun'. Many are glad that 2011 is finally over, as it has been a very tough year. But will 2012 be any better? Let's certainly hope so. Musically, however, 2011 was actually a very good year, with lots of great albums and songs, many new and emerging artists, and important albums from numerous iconic artists. Oh sure, the pop world was dominated by Adele, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber, but for the rest of us there were major new releases from Radiohead, Wilco, Tom Waits, My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, The Black Keys, Coldplay, Fleet Foxes, and Blitzen Trapper, among many others. My Favorite among these was probably Wilco's The Whole Love, overall one of their very best albums. These fine albums coupled with the popular acceptance of traditional and roots-related artists, such as Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes, lead to one superb year of all kinds of different musical styles. But probably my favorite release of the year, and the one I have been playing the most over the past few couple months, is Ben Folds' 3-CD Retrospective: The Best Imitation of Myself, an excellent look at various aspects of Ben's great career output, featuring a 1-CD 'best of' compilation, 1-CD of previously unreleased live tracks, and 1-CD of (mostly) previously unreleased demos, rarities, and oddities. The single CD 'best of' version is great for people to get a feel for Ben's more mainstream music, but if you are interested in Ben at all, you have to get the 3-CD full-length version, as most of the stuff of interest to fans is located there. The whole thing is just a great listen.

OK, as for the blog, 2011 also was a pretty good year. The primary feature added last year was the exclusive presentation of previously unreleased audience recordings from David M, and it was great to be able to present these on the blog, and to the world. With these shows, the blog focus shifted a bit more towards classic Country-rock, at least temporarily, and it was a great run of shows throughout the year. The most popular of these were, not surprisingly, the Eagles and Neil Young shows, but Gram Parsons, The Souther Hillman Furay Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, JD Souther, and Gene Clark also received very strong support and downloads. In total, all these newly available David M recordings together received nearly 20,000 downloads throughout the year. I certainly hope you checked some of those out, and enjoyed them as much as I did. Alot of other great stuff was also posted in 2011. Overall, the most popular posts were undoubtedly the Steely Dan stuff, particularly the outtakes. The Lost Gaucho Outtakes were downloaded more than anything else ever on this blog, with nearly 4000 downloads in less than a year. Once again, Neil Young, The Kinks, The Band, and Genesis posts, were also very popular, as well as Jackson Browne and America, and surprisingly, The Rutles. It was also great to see some of the lesser known stuff getting substantially more interest and downloads this year, such as The Fabulous Poodles, Deaf School, Steve Goodman, Timbuk3, and the Pousette-Dart Band .

On a personal level, it also became clear that I have only a limited amount of time I can devote to the blog, and although I enjoy it very much, the level of posting seen in 2011 is about all I can handle, at least for now. 2011 was for the first year that I have not increased the number of posts from the previous year, so I have basically hit the wall, I guess. So, although I know that most readers want to see more new posts and content regularly, for this blog, you'll have to accept that this rate, about 5-6 posts per month, is all you are going to get here. However, I will still try to maintain the high level of quality of the posts, and only post stuff that is not readily available elsewhere (and be stuff I really think is worthwhile). So, there you have it, a bit of a look back at the past year, and forward to the new one as well. May you all have a very prosperous and enjoyable new year. Stay tuned (even if you sometimes have to wait between posts).

About This Blog

This site respects and supports artists and artist rights. Please support the artists by purchasing their officially released music through normal channels. The music files, information, and downloads linked here represent unreleased recordings that are not available through any official channels. This music is meant to supplement (and not replace) the currently available official releases for fans that want to explore deeper into an artists repertoire than is possible through official releases only (through demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and concert recordings). The music linked here is presented for sampling and evaluation purposes. By all means, if you enjoy the music from any artists represented here, please buy their official releases. All music files linked here are freely available elsewhere on the internet and no music files are stored at this site. I hope you find new music to enjoy here.

If any artists or representatives of the artists object to anything I have posted here, please send me an email (address below) letting me know and I will promptly remove it (I only request that you contact me directly rather than pursuing any DMCA notification or legal action).

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